Tesla's Musk says stress, overwork taking heavy toll

The founder of the electric vehicle manufacturer, who oversees other ambitious companies like SpaceX and The Boring Company, spoke of the deterioration in his physical health and the overwork which almost caused him to miss his brother's wedding.

For everyone keeping score, Elon's recent troubles - majority of his own making - having included blasting a rescue cave diver as a "pedo guy" on Twitter; dismissing analyst questions during an earnings call as "boneheaded"; and the seemingly ill-thought out privatization tweet, to name a few. Musk says that he came to this figure after deciding he wanted to offer a 20 percent premium on current stock prices which would have come out around $419, a number Musk rounded up to $420. According to The Journal's reporting, the securities regulator is probing whether the Tesla misled investors about the Model 3's production status. "I've had friends come by who are really concerned", Musk toldThe Times.

The New York Times cited people familiar with the situation as saying the board had been trying to find a No. 2 executive to help relieve some of the pressure on Mr Musk.

But Musk, who is also the boss of rocket company SpaceX and other ventures, said he has no plans to leave the CEO and chairman roles at Tesla.

Critics point out Tesla is burning through cash as it tries to ramp up Model 3 production after a series of delays.

While he acknowledged that no one read the post before he sent it, Musk said he did not regret it - "Why would I?" - and that he would not stop using Twitter. Cumulatively, short-sellers lost $1.3 billion on August 7 following Musk's tweet. Tesla's cars are wildly popular and the world would miss them if the shorts prove right.

On Twitter, Musk has frequently complained about short sellers and taunted them. Nearly a week later, the chief executive said the basis for that statement was conversations with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which first expressed interest in helping take the company private in early 2017.